Personalized Cloud of Mobile Tasks

ABSTRACT

A dynamically created and automatically updated personalized cloud of mobile tasks may be displayed on an interactive visual display via a personalized cloud generator application. The personalized cloud generator application may receive and/or capture information representing a mobile task performed by a mobile computing device user. The personalized cloud generator application may then store the information and determine a relevance of a given performed mobile task. If the relevance of the performed mobile task meets a prescribed threshold, the personal cloud generator application may display a selectable visual representation (e.g., selectable icon) of the performed mobile task. Given a user&#39;s activity, the visual representation may be automatically updated (displayed, removed, moved, resized, etc.) based on the information received and/or captured. Subsequent selection of the displayed visual representation allows quick and easy access or performance of the associated mobile task.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/343,929, filed Dec. 24, 2008 and entitled“Personalized Cloud of Mobile Tasks,” the disclosure of which isincorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many people use mobile computing devices on a daily basis forcommunication and information access. Most users utilize their mobilecomputing devices for a variety of tasks (e.g., making phone calls,instant messaging, e-mailing, checking the weather, sports results,tracking of stock market prices, news headlines, or music downloads).Each of these tasks can involve many steps on the mobile computingdevice through multiple applications. Many mobile computing device usersutilize their devices for these and other tasks while in a distractedenvironment or on the move (e.g., while walking or driving). Thus,attempting to access a commonly utilized application can be verycumbersome. While mobile computing technology has advanced significantlyto meet people's rapidly expanding work and personal needs, mobilecomputing devices do very little to adapt themselves based on a person'susage patterns and needs.

Methods and systems have been developed that allow mobile computingdevice users to personalize their devices to allow quick access to theapplications they use most frequently. Some existing solutions includespeed dial lists, favorite contacts, favorite websites, and customizableapplication icons on the home screen. While these solutions help theuser to quickly access their more frequently used mobile tasks, they aremanually implemented and are static in nature. If usage or callingpatterns change (e.g., user meets a new friend, starts talking to an oldfriend more, starts working on a new project with different colleagues),the user would again need to go to the effort of manually changing thesettings.

It is with respect to these and other considerations that the presentinvention has been made.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of this present invention solve the above and other problemsby providing a personalized cloud of mobile tasks on a mobile computingdevice. When one or more tasks are commonly performed on a mobiledevice, for example, calling a particular party or checking a particularresource, a visual representation (e.g., an icon or text label or othersuitable user interface component) corresponding to each performed taskmay be dynamically generated and displayed on the mobile device displayscreen to allow quick and easy subsequent performance of a given task byselecting an associated displayed icon. Displayed icons may be selectedvia a variety of selection means, for example, touching a displayedicon, voice enabled selection or keyboard activated selection. Icons forassociated tasks may be displayed based on a number of usage patterns,for example, the frequency of use of a particular task, the date/time ofuse of a particular task, or other relevance information such aslocation of the mobile, context of the use of a task, etc.

According to an embodiment, a personalized cloud generator applicationcaptures information about a performed mobile task, for example,identity of a performed task, date/time of performance of the task,frequency of performance of the task, and the like. In one embodiment,the personalized cloud generator application may be in the form of amobile dialing, search and content application. In addition, thepersonalized cloud generator application may retrieve contextualinformation about a performed task, for example, presence informationabout a called party and real-time information (e.g., the score of asporting event as it is happening) about a utilized resource. Thepersonalized cloud generator application may store the captured andretrieved information, determines a relevance of a given performedmobile task, and may display a visual representation (e.g., an icon) ofthe performed mobile task if the relevance of the performed mobile taskmeets a prescribed threshold.

These and other features and advantages will be apparent from a readingof the following detailed description and a review of the associateddrawings. It is to be understood that both the foregoing generaldescription and the following detailed description are explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the detaileddescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended asan aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example mobile computing device.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram illustrating components of a mobilecomputing device that may serve as an exemplary operating environmentfor embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of a computing architecture forobtaining and utilizing information associated with the use of mobileapplications.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are simplified diagrams illustrating screenshots ofan example mobile computing device displaying an example flow of how avisual interface may be created dynamically based on mobile tasksperformed by a user.

FIG. 5 is a simplified diagram illustrating screenshots of an examplemobile computing device displaying another example flow of how a visualinterface may be created dynamically based on mobile tasks performed bya user.

FIG. 6 is a logical flow diagram illustrating a method for providing apersonalized cloud of mobile tasks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As briefly described above, embodiments of the present invention aredirected to providing an automatically created and dynamically updatedpersonalized cloud of mobile tasks displayed via a mobile device userinterface from gathered and/or retrieved information associated with oneor more utilized tasks.

Given a user's activity (e.g., people called, calls received, businesseslooked for, sports teams of interest, etc.), a personalized cloudgenerator application may create an iconic display representing theuser's most commonly utilized tasks. As will be illustrated anddescribed herein, the iconic display representing mobile tasks may takethe form of selectable user interface components displayed on thedisplay screen of the user's mobile device to allow quick and easysubsequent selection/performance of associated tasks. The selectableuser interface components may be in the form of selectable iconsrepresenting tasks, for example, a displayed photograph to represent acontact, a displayed logo to represent a business or other entity, adisplayed text string, a displayed clip art item, and the like. Asshould be appreciated any number of displayable and selectable icons maybe used to represent a mobile tasks according to embodiments of theinvention. The selection of displayed icons, the size, and the positionof each displayed icon may reflect the relevance and importance to theuser based on his/her activity. Other criteria that may impact thedisplay of icons representing commonly utilized tasks may include timeof day, location, context of use (e.g., driving vs. walking, at home vs.at work), who is nearby, who is available for communication (i.e.,presence information) and the like.

The personalized cloud generator application may also adapt the displayof individual icons based on factors such as time of day, day of theweek, frequency or amount of use of a given task (i.e., usage patterns),etc. For example, a selectable icon in the form of a photograph of aparticular called party may be displayed on a mobile telephone displayscreen to allow quick calls to the called party by touching or otherwiseselecting the displayed photograph. The more a user of the mobile phonecalls the called party, the larger called party's icon (displayedselectable photograph) becomes and/or the more centralized the displayof the icon becomes. If the called party calls the user of the mobilephone frequently (and their calls are frequently answered/returned), theicon can become still larger/more centralized. For another example, ifthe called party is only called on the weekend, the displayed icon forthe called party may be small (and peripherally displayed) during theweek, and may be larger and more centrally located on the weekend.

Each displayed icon may also include status information relevant to theassociated task. For example, if presence data for a called partyaccessible by the mobile device from an electronic calendaringapplication indicates the called party is not presently available for aphone call, such information may be displayed near the displayed icon.

The user may activate a mobile task associated with a given displayedicon by selecting the icon via one of a number of suitable iconselection mechanisms. A displayed icon may be activated via a touchinterface (e.g., touching a called parties displayed photograph), or thedisplayed icon may be activated via other means such as voice activationor keyboard activation. For example, touching a displayed icon of afriend's photo may place a call to the friend and/or retrieve contactinformation, presence information, social network status for the friend,and the like. Selecting an icon for a business may bring up a detailspage with quick access to a map, directions or ability to call thefriend. Selecting an icon, such as a logo for a favorite sports team,may cause the mobile device to retrieve a webpage for the team to allowthe user to catch up on the latest news of the team, or alternatively, alink to the information the user is likely to want (e.g., currentscore). Selecting an icon for a movie theater may allow the user to seethe current movie listings.

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawingand the following description to refer to the same or similar elements.While embodiments of the invention may be described, modifications,adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example,substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elementsillustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may bemodified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosedmethods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limitthe invention, but instead, the proper scope of the invention is definedby the appended claims.

It should be appreciated that various embodiments of the presentinvention may be implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implementedacts or program modules running on a computing system and/or (2) asinterconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within thecomputing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent onthe performance requirements of the computing system implementing theinvention. Accordingly, logical operations including related algorithmscan be referred to variously as operations, structural devices, acts ormodules. It will be recognized by one skilled in the art that theseoperations, structural devices, acts and modules may be implemented insoftware, firmware, special purpose digital logic, and any combinationthereof without deviating from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention as recited within the claims set forth herein.

The following is a description of a suitable mobile computing device,for example, a mobile phone with which embodiments of the invention maybe practiced. With reference to FIG. 1, an example mobile computingdevice 100 for implementing the embodiments is illustrated. In a basicconfiguration, mobile computing device 100 is a handheld computer havingboth input elements and output elements. Input elements may includetouch screen display 105 and input buttons 115 that allow the user toenter information into mobile computing device 100. Mobile computingdevice 100 may also incorporate an optional side input element 125allowing further user input. Optional side input element 125 may be arotary switch, a button, or any other type of manual input element. Inalternative embodiments, mobile computing device 100 may incorporatemore or less input elements. For example, display 105 may not be a touchscreen in some embodiments. In yet another alternative embodiment, themobile computing device is a portable phone system, such as a cellularphone having display 105 and input buttons 115. Mobile computing device100 may also include an optional keypad 115. Optional keypad 115 may bea physical keypad or a “soft” keypad generated on the touch screendisplay.

Mobile computing device 100 incorporates output elements, such asdisplay 105, which can display a graphical user interface (GUI). Otheroutput elements include speaker 130 and LED light 120. Additionally,mobile computing device 100 may incorporate a vibration module (notshown), which causes mobile computing device 100 to vibrate to notifythe user of an event. In yet another embodiment, mobile computing device100 may incorporate a headphone jack (not shown) for providing anothermeans of providing output signals.

Although described herein in combination with mobile computing device100, in alternative embodiments the invention is used in combinationwith any number of computer systems, such as in desktop environments,laptop or notebook computer systems, multiprocessor systems,micro-processor based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs,mini computers, main frame computers and the like. Embodiments of theinvention may also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a communications network in a distributed computing environment;programs may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.To summarize, any computer system having a plurality of environmentsensors, a plurality of output elements to provide notifications to auser and a plurality of notification event types may incorporateembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a mobile computingdevice used in one embodiment, such as the computing device shown inFIG. 1. That is, mobile computing device 100 (FIG. 1) can incorporatesystem 200 to implement some embodiments. For example, system 200 can beused in implementing a “smart phone” that can run one or moreapplications similar to those of a desktop or notebook computer such as,for example, browser, e-mail, scheduling, instant messaging, and mediaplayer applications. System 200 can execute an Operating System (OS)such as, WINDOWS XP®, WINDOWS CEO available from MICROSOFT CORPORATION,REDMOND, WASHINGTON. In some embodiments, system 200 is integrated as acomputing device, such as an integrated personal digital assistant (PDA)and wireless phone.

One or more application programs 266 may be loaded into memory 262 andrun on or in association with operating system 264. Examples ofapplication programs include phone dialer programs, e-mail programs, PIM(personal information management) programs, word processing programs,spreadsheet programs, Internet browser programs, messaging programs, andso forth. System 200 also includes non-volatile storage 268 withinmemory 262. Non-volatile storage 268 may be used to store persistentinformation that should not be lost if system 200 is powered down.Applications 266 may use and store information in non-volatile storage268, such as e-mail or other messages used by an e-mail application, andthe like. A synchronization application (not shown) also resides onsystem 200 and is programmed to interact with a correspondingsynchronization application resident on a host computer to keep theinformation stored in non-volatile storage 268 synchronized withcorresponding information stored at the host computer. As should beappreciated, other applications may be loaded into memory 262 and run onthe device 100.

As will be described in detail below, the Personalized Cloud GeneratorApplication (PCGA) 265 is a software application module operative toretrieve and/or capture information from a performed mobile task, tostore and determine a relevance of the retrieved and/or capturedinformation, and to display a visual representation of the performedmobile task if the relevance of the performed task meets a prescribedthreshold.

System 200 has a power supply 270, which may be implemented as one ormore batteries. Power supply 270 might further include an external powersource, such as an AC adapter or a powered docking cradle thatsupplements or recharges the batteries.

System 200 may also include a radio 272 that performs the function oftransmitting and receiving radio frequency communications. Radio 272facilitates wireless connectivity between system 200 and the “outsideworld”, via a communications carrier or service provider. Transmissionsto and from radio 272 are conducted under control of OS 264. In otherwords, communications received by radio 272 may be disseminated toapplication programs 266 via OS 264, and vice versa.

Radio 272 allows system 200 to communicate with other computing devices,such as over a network. Radio 272 is one example of communication media.Communication media may typically be embodied by computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in amodulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transportmechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term“modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of itscharacteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode informationin the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communicationmedia includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wiredconnection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and otherwireless media. The term computer readable media as used herein includesboth storage media and communication media.

This embodiment of system 200 is shown with two types of notificationoutput devices; LED 120 that can be used to provide visual notificationsand an audio interface 274 that can be used with speaker 130 to provideaudio notifications. These devices may be directly coupled to powersupply 270 so that when activated, they remain on for a durationdictated by the notification mechanism even though processor 260 andother components might shut down for conserving battery power. LED 120may be programmed to remain on indefinitely until the user takes actionto indicate the powered-on status of the device. Audio interface 274 isused to provide audible signals to and receive audible signals from theuser. For example, in addition to being coupled to speaker 130, audiointerface 274 may also be coupled to a microphone to receive audibleinput, such as to facilitate a telephone conversation. In accordancewith embodiments of the present invention, the microphone may also serveas an audio sensor to facilitate control of notifications, as will bedescribed below.

System 200 may further include video interface 276 that enables anoperation of on-board camera 135 to record still images, video stream,and the like.

A mobile computing device implementing system 200 may have additionalfeatures or functionality. For example, the device may also includeadditional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) suchas, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage isillustrated in FIG. 2 by storage 268. Computer storage media may includevolatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implementedin any method or technology for storage of information, such as computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.

Data/information generated or captured by the device 100 and stored viathe system 200 may be stored locally on the device 100, as describedabove, or the data may be stored on any number of storage media that maybe accessed by the device via the radio 272 or via a wired connectionbetween the device 100 and a separate computing device 330 associatedwith the device 100, for example, a server computer in a distributedcomputing network 320 such as the Internet. As should be appreciatedsuch data/information may be accessed via the device 100 via the radio272 or via a distributed computing network 320. Similarly, suchdata/information may be readily transferred between computing devicesfor storage and use according to well-known data/information transferand storage means, including electronic mail and collaborativedata/information sharing systems.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of a computing architecture forobtaining information associated with the use of mobile applications.The mobile computing device 100 described above with reference to FIGS.1 and 2 is operative to perform mobile tasks using one or more mobileapplications 266 such as phone dialer programs, e-mail programs, PIM(personal information management) programs, word processing programs,spreadsheet programs, Internet browser programs, messaging programs, andso forth. The mobile computing device 100 is also operative to display auser interface on a screen display 105. As illustrated in FIG. 3, thedevice 100 is operative to generate, retrieve, store and utilizeinformational data and contextual data associated with a given mobiletask in concert with the PCGA application 265, as described herein. Thedevice 100 is operative to communicate with one or more remote data andapplications 330 via a mobile network 360 and via one or moredistributed computing networks 320.

According to an embodiment, the Personalized Cloud Generator Application(PCGA) 265 is provided for displaying a user interface on a mobilecomputing device 100, in the form of a mobile telephone and/or mobileapplication-enabled computing device, as illustrated above withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As is described below, the PCGA 265 is asoftware application module operative to retrieve and/or captureinformation from a performed mobile task, to store and determine arelevance of the retrieved and/or captured information, and to display avisual representation of the performed mobile task if the relevancemeets a prescribed threshold. According to one embodiment, the PCGA 265may take the form of a mobile dialing, search and content applicationadapted to provide and display selectable user interface components on amobile device display screen as described herein (e.g., icons, textlabels, photographs, clip art or any other suitable image or label thatmay be displayed to represent a mobile task). The selectable userinterface components are visual representations of associated performedmobile tasks. As will be described below, the PCGA 265 may adapt thedisplay of such selectable visual representations based the determinedrelevance of associated performed mobile tasks and on available dataabout associated performed mobile tasks.

Data representing a performed mobile task may be informational data 340,comprised of such data as the date the mobile task was performed, thetime of day the mobile task was performed, the frequency with which theuser activates the performed mobile task, the identity of the otherparty associated with the performed mobile task, etc. In addition,informational data 340 may include data generated by the PCGA 265 fordetermining the relevance of a given mobile task for determining whetherand how a selectable visual representation (e.g., icon) of the givenmobile task should be displayed for subsequent use. For example, if therelevance of a given mobile task, such as the calling of a particularcalled party, is determined based on the number of times that calledparty is called in a particular period (e.g., per day, per week, etc.),a count of the number of calls to that called party may be maintained bythe PCGA 265 and data representing the count may be stored ininformational data 340. Similarly, if relevance of a given mobile taskis based on the time of day a given task is performed, then times of dayof performances of the given mobile task may be stored by the PCGA 265in the informational data 340 for use by the PCGA in determining whetherthe given mobile task warrants having an associated visualrepresentation displayed by the PCGA to allow quick and easy subsequentaccess of the given mobile task. Informational data 340 may be stored,accessed and utilized locally on the mobile device 100, or alternativelythe informational data 340 may be stored, accessed and utilized at aremote data and applications location 330, described below.

Data representing a performed mobile task may include contextual data350, comprised of such data as the location of the mobile device 100when the mobile task is performed, the location and/or the presence dataof the other party associated with the performed mobile task when themobile task is performed, the physical activity of the user when themobile task is performed, etc. For example a global positioningsatellite (GPS) system application 266 may be utilized for determining alocation of the mobile device 100 when a call is made. Such informationmay be contextually relevant to determining whether and how to display avisual representation of a given mobile task. For example, if it isdetermined by the PCGA that a user calls her assistant each time she islocated in a particular area, for example, on the freeway between thehours of 8:00 am and 9:00 am, the PCGA 265 may utilize location data forthe mobile device to determine relevance of the associated task.Following with this example, each time the mobile device 100 is locatedon the example freeway between 8:00 am and 9:00 am the location and timeof day information may be utilized by the PCGA 265 to display aselectable icon on the display screen 105 of the mobile computing device100 representing the user's assistant to allow the user to quickly andeasily call the assistant as she begins her commute to her office.

As should be appreciated, other types of contextual data 350 maylikewise be utilized. For example, the PCGA 265 may access presence datafor the example assistant, for example, via an electronic calendarapplication accessible by the mobile computing device 100. Followingwith the above example, if the PCGA would normally display a selectableicon for the user's assistant at the present time, but it is determinedthat the assistant is presently on holiday and not available for a call,the contextual data 350 in the form of presence data for the user'sassistant may be utilized for determining whether and how the selectableicon should be displayed. As with the informational data 340, contextualdata 350 may be stored, accessed and utilized locally on the mobiledevice 100, or alternatively the contextual data 350 may be stored,accessed and utilized at a remote data and applications location 330,described below. As should be appreciated, informational data 340 andcontextual data 350 may be stored together or separately as illustratedin FIG. 3.

According to an embodiment, mobile tasks performed on the mobilecomputing device 100 and both informational data 340 and contextual data350 associated with a given mobile task may be accessed, stored and/ormaintained at one or more remote data and applications sites 330 via adistributed computing network 320, such as the Internet or a corporateintranet. For example, a given mobile task performed by a user may beaccessing a favorite website 330 via the Internet 320. Information on auser's access of the example website via her mobile telephone 100 may bestored and monitored by the PCGA 265 at one or both of informationaldata 340 or contextual data 350. For example, if a user browses to atraffic information website every weekday between 8:00 am and 9:00 am,the PCGA may track her routine of the traffic information website. Ifher access to the website meets a prescribed threshold, for example,more than twice in a given week, then a selectable icon representing thetraffic information website may be displayed on the display screen 105of her mobile telephone so that the next weekday morning, the selectableicon is displayed on her mobile telephone (computing device) to allowher to quickly and easily access the desired website without having tobrowse to the website while she drives. As should be appreciated, manydifferent remote applications and data may be accessed via the mobiledevice 100 and may be utilized by the PCGA 265 as described herein. Forexample, remote applications and data may include websites, calendaringand presence data for called parties, remote data servers, remotelystored and utilized software applications, such as GPS systems, etc.Also, as mentioned above, informational data 340 and contextual data 350utilized by the PCGA for determining whether and how to display aselectable icon for a given mobile task may be stored remotely at one ormore remote data and application sites such as a remote serveraccessible by the mobile computing device 100.

Having described example operating environments and an example operatingarchitecture for embodiments of the invention, FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C and 5are simplified diagrams of screenshots of an example mobile computingdevice 100 illustrating when and how the PCGA 265 may display selectableicons representing performed mobile tasks when it is determined by thePCGA 265 that a given mobile task is sufficiently relevant to the userof the device 100 to display an associated selectable icon in a visualinterface to allow the user to subsequently quickly and easily accessthe given mobile task.

Referring to FIG. 4A, screenshot 400 illustrates a display screen of amobile telephone 100 with no selectable icons yet created by the PCGA onthe display screen 105. Input component 401 is a representation of ashortcut within a user interface displayed on the screen display 105that may be used to launch one of many mobile tasks or applications(e.g., contacts, calculator, calendar, voicemail, etc.). Referring toscreenshot 405, consider that a user accesses a contacts list to findcontact “Anne Smith” in order to place a call to the desired contact. Asshould be appreciated, the photographic icon 406 illustrated inscreenshot 405 is for purposes of example only and is not limiting tothe vast number of visual representations that may be used according toembodiments of the invention. For example, if a photograph of thecontact is not available, a text label or a piece of clip art may bedisplayed. Text string 407 illustrated in screenshot 405 is an exampleof the contact information that may be displayed when a contact isselected. The user may select the icon representing “Anne Smith” toaccess more contact information, to make a call or send an SMS textmessage to “Anne Smith,” to see her social network status, etc.

According to an embodiment, if the user of the device 100 utilizes thecontacts data associated with the example contact “Anne Smith,” bothinformational data 340 and contextual data 350 may be gathered,retrieved and stored about the utilization of the associated contactsdata. For example, the day of week, time of day, and contextualinformation, such as presence data for the associated contact, alocation of the mobile device, and the like, may be gathered by the PCGA265, as described above with reference to FIG. 3. If it is determined bythe PCGA 265 that this particular mobile task is sufficiently relevant,then a visual representation of the performed mobile task in the form ofa selectable icon 416 representing the mobile task may be displayed bythe PCGA 265 on the display screen 105 as illustrated in screenshot 415.For example, if the user of the mobile device 100 has placed a call tothis particular contact more than a prescribed threshold, for example,three times in one week, a selectable icon 416 for the called contactmay be displayed as illustrated in screenshot 415.

The selectable icon displayed by the PCGA may be based on informationavailable to the PCGA 265 about the performed mobile task. For example,if a photograph associated with the performed mobile task is available,the PCGA 265 may generate and display and image of the photograph as aselectable icon. A text string representing the performed mobile taskmay be displayed as a selectable icon. A piece of clip art representingthe performed mobile task may be displayed as a selectable icon. Indeed,any visual object that may be displayed on the display screen 105 may beutilized as a selectable icon. As should be appreciated, the PCGA mayallow a user to designate a particular icon (e.g., photo, clip art,sketch, etc.) for use as a selectable icon for a given performed mobiletask.

The user of the device 100 subsequently may quickly and easily accessthe example contact by selecting the example icon 416 without having tomanually browse to a contacts list to locate the desired contactsinformation. As should be appreciated, the selectable icon 416 may beselected via any suitable selection means. For example, the icon 416 maybe selected by a touch screen mechanism, by voice activation selectionmechanism, by keyboard activated selection mechanism, and the like.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, another example operation of the PCGA 265 isillustrated. As illustrated in screenshot 420, a user of the device 100utilizes voice activation for calling up a remote information site 330for obtaining contacts information for one or more restaurants, forexample, pizza delivery companies. After a display of one or morepotential pizza delivery companies is provided to the user, asillustrated in screenshot 425, the user is free to select one or more ofthe displayed example pizza delivery companies. If the user selects oneof the pizza delivery companies, for example, the “Tasty Pizza” company,the PCGA 265 may store information about the user's access to theselected pizza company information. For example, it may be determined bythe PCGA 265 that this is the fourth time in the past month that theuser has contacted this particular pizza delivery company. Or, the PCGA265 may determine that the user always contacts this particular pizzadelivery company when the user's mobile device is located in aparticular city, as determined by a GPS application 266 available to themobile device 100. If based on informational data 340 and/or contextualdata 350, the PCGA 265 determines that access to the particular examplepizza delivery company is sufficiently relevant to the user, aselectable icon 436 may be displayed in the display screen 105, asillustrated in screenshot 435, to allow the user subsequently to quicklyand easily access the desired pizza delivery company without having toobtain contacts information for the pizza delivery company, as describedabove.

Referring now to FIG. 4C, the PCGA application may also dynamicallychange the way in which a selectable icon is displayed based on therelevance of an associated mobile task. As illustrated in FIG. 4C, ifthe example contact “Anne Smith” is either called by the user or callsthe user of the device 100, or if contacts information or otherinformation associated with the example contact “Anne Smith” is utilizedvia the device 100, the relevance of the example contact “Anne Smith”may be increased. For example, after receiving a call from the examplecontact “Anne Smith” as illustrated in screenshot 440, the PCGA 265 maydetermine that the example contact “Anne Smith” is more relevant to theuser of the device 100 than other mobile tasks. Accordingly, theselectable icon 416 for the example contact “Anne Smith” may beincreased in size on the display screen 105 to indicate its increasedrelevance to the user of the device 100 and to make selection of theicon 416 easier than selection of other icons, for example, the pizzadelivery company icon 436. As should be appreciated, the selectable icon416 may also be repositioned on the display screen 105 by the PCGA toshow increased relevance. For example, the selectable icon 416 may becentered or moved to a prominent position such as the upper left corner.

As should be understood, just as the PCGA application may determine thatthe relevance of a given performed mobile task has increased based on auser's performance of the mobile task, the PCGA application may alsodetermine that a mobile task previously considered relevant to the userof the device 100 has decreased in relevance, or is no longer relevantat all. For example, if a sufficient amount of time elapses and the userof the device 100 has not contacted the example Tasty Pizza company, andthe PCGA application determines that performance of the task, forexample, contacting the Tasty Pizza company is no longer relevant to theuser of the device 100, the icon 436 may be removed from the displayscreen 105 by the PCGA 265. For example, the example pizza deliverycompany may be located in a particular city in which the user of thedevice 100 is temporarily deployed for her work. During the time she isdeployed to the location of the example pizza delivery company, she maycontact the pizza delivery company on a regular basis causing the PCGA265 to display a selectable icon 436 for the example pizza deliverycompany. After the user departs from the area containing the examplepizza delivery company, she may not contact the example pizza deliverycompany thereafter. If the PCGA 265 determines that the example pizzadelivery company is no longer relevant to the user because, for example,the user does not contact the example pizza delivery company during aprescribed period of time, then the PCGA 265 may remove the selectableicon 436 for the example pizza delivery company from the display screen105.

Referring now to FIG. 5, another example operation of the PCGA 265 isillustrated. Referring to screenshot 500, a personalized cloud of mobiletasks, represented by selectable icons for six different mobile tasks,has been displayed on the display screen 105 by the PCGA 265 because thePCGA has determined that mobile tasks associated with each of thedisplayed icons are sufficiently relevant to the user of the device 100.It should be appreciated that although the selectable icons 505, 510,515, 520, 525, 530 in the example illustrated in FIG. 5 are displayed asa collage of icons, the selectable icons may also be displayed in avariety of other patterns, for example, in a linear pattern. Referringto the screenshot 500, a selectable icon 505 associated with a personalcontact is displayed, a selectable icon 510 associated with the web siteof a favorite sports team routinely accessed by the user is illustrated,a selectable icon 515 illustrating a frequently utilized electronic mailapplication is displayed, a selectable icon 520 illustrating afrequently used music application is displayed, a selectable icon 525illustrating a financial services application particularly relevant tothe user is displayed, and a selectable icon 530 illustrating an oftenutilized settings program for the device 100 is displayed.

As described herein, these example selectable icons are displayedbecause utilization of the associated mobile tasks, data, applications,or other information associated with these tasks has occurred in amanner causing the PCGA 265 to determine that these mobile tasks areparticularly relevant to the user of the device 100 and that it would begood if the user could access these mobile tasks without having tobrowse to the associated mobile tasks to manually select the mobiletasks. It should be appreciated that although the example screenshots ofFIG. 5 illustrate the displayed selectable icons linking toapplications, the selectable icons may also be linked to personalcontacts, businesses, and/or content. For example, rather thanselectable icon 520 being linked to a frequently used music application,it could alternatively represent a frequently played song. For anotherexample, selectable icon 510 may be linked to the information the useris likely to want (e.g., current score of his/her favorite sports team)rather than to the website of his/her favorite sports team.

As described above, if the user utilizes one or more of the displayedmobile tasks more frequently, or in another manner that causes the PCGA265 to determine that the relevance of that task has increased, then thedisplayed selectable icon 505 for that task may be increased in size, asillustrated in screenshot 550. As illustrated in screenshot 550, theicon 505 has been increased in size relative to the other displayedselectable icons because the PCGA application 265 has determined that amobile task associated with that displayed selectable icon, for example,calling an example contact, sending an e-mail or other message to theexample contact, and the like, has increased in relevance to the usersuch that it would be good to make selection of tasks associated withthat displayed icon easier or more prominent to the user of the device100. Similarly, as described above, if performance of one of the mobiletasks associated with one of the example displayed selectable iconsdecreases in relevance, the PCGA 265 may decrease the size of thedisplayed selectable icon, and/or move the displayed selectable icon toa less central location, or may remove the displayed selectable iconaltogether. As should be appreciated, changes in the display of aselectable icon may be made by the PCGA 265 in a gradual manner. Forexample, as a given mobile task becomes less relevant to the user, theposition and/or size of the associated icon may gradually be changed toreflect the change in relevance.

Having described example operating environments and an example operatingarchitecture for embodiments of the present invention with respect toFIGS. 1-3, and having described example displays of selectable iconsincluded in a displayed personalized cloud of mobile tasks with respectto FIGS. 4-5, FIG. 6 is a logical flow diagram illustrating a method forproviding an automatically created and dynamically updated personalizedcloud of mobile tasks in the form of one or more selectable iconsdisplayed on a display screen of a mobile computing device forperforming associated mobile tasks as described above.

The method 600 begins at operation 605 and proceeds to operation 610where a mobile task is performed. For example, a telephone call on amobile telephone 100 may be initiated, a telephone call may be receivedvia a mobile telephone 100, a web site of interest may be browsed tofrom a mobile computing device 100, or one or more softwareapplications, for example, electronic mail applications, electroniccalendaring applications, electronic contacts applications, or a varietyof desktop applications, for example, word processing applications,spreadsheet applications, slide presentation applications, databaseapplications, and the like may be utilized via the computing device 100.In addition, a number of applications associated with the mobilecomputing device 100, for example, settings applications, may beutilized via the mobile computing device 100 at operation 610.

At operation 615, the PCGA 265 captures information about the performedmobile task. For example, if a call is placed from the mobile computingdevice 100, identification information about the called party, a dateand time of the placed call, whether or not the placed call is answered,whether the called party is included in the user's (calling party's)contacts database, etc. may be captured by the PCGA 265 when the mobiletask is performed. In addition, any contextual information 350associated with the performed mobile task may be captured at operation615. For example, a GPS application may be utilized for determining alocation of the mobile computing device with which the mobile task isperformed or presence information about a called party may be obtainedfrom an electronic calendaring application either stored locally at themobile computing device 100 or accessible by the mobile computing device100 via a remote data store 330 via a distributive computing network320. At operation 620, the PCGA 265 stores the captured informationaldata 340 and/or retrieved contextual data 350 representing the performedmobile task.

At operation 625, the PCGA 265 determines a relevance of the performedtask. As described above, the relevance of a given performed task may bebased on a number of different relevance criteria. For example, for acall placed to a particular called party, if the call is placed from themobile computing device 100 more than a prescribed number of timesduring a prescribed period, for example, four times in one week, adetermination may be made that the called party or contacts informationassociated with the called party is sufficiently relevant for displayinga selectable icon on the display screen 105 of the mobile computingdevice 100. For another example, if the user browses to the website of afavorite sports team, and contextual information gathered by the PCGA265 indicates that the sports team is presently engaged in a game, thatcontextual information combined with other information about the browsedto website may cause the PCGA 265 to determine that the browsed to website is sufficiently relevant to warrant displaying a selectable icon onthe display screen for allowing the user to subsequently quickly andeasily browse to the favorite sports team web site by selecting thedisplayed icon.

Alternatively, following from this example, if the PCGA 265 determinesthat the user has only browsed to this particular sports website on aninfrequent basis, and other information, for example, contextualinformation indicates that the sports team associated with the browsedto web site is not presently engaged in a game, the PCGA 265 maydetermine that the browsed to website is not sufficiently relevant tothe user to warrant displaying a selectable icon for the browsed to website. As can be seen from the foregoing examples, a vast number ofsuitable criteria and thresholds may be utilized by the PCGA 265 fordetermining whether the performance of a given mobile task warrants thedisplay of a selectable icon for the mobile task for allowing quick andeasy subsequent access to and performance of the mobile task.

At operation 630, if the performance of a given mobile task meets orexceeds a prescribed threshold, for example, a prescribed number ofcalls during a prescribed period, the PCGA 265 may display a visualrepresentation of the performed task in the form of a selectable icon.As described above with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, in addition todetermining whether a given selectable icon should be displayed for aperformed task, the PCGA 265 may also determine that a previouslydisplayed selectable icon should be increased or decreased in size,moved to a more or less prominent location on the display screen 105, orwhether a previously displayed selectable icon should be removed fromthe display screen altogether where the relevance of a given performedtask has increased or decreased to warrant a change in the display ofthe associated selectable icon. The method 600 ends at operation 635.

Although the invention has been described in connection with variousembodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand thatmany modifications may be made thereto within the scope of the claimsthat follow.

We claim:
 1. A method for providing a personalized cloud of mobiletasks, comprising: receiving an indication of a performance of a mobiletask on a mobile device of a user; capturing information about theperformance of the mobile task on the mobile device of the user andcontextual data associated with the performance of the mobile task onthe mobile device of the user; storing the captured information andcontextual data; analyzing the captured information and contextual data;determining a relevance of the performance of the mobile task to theuser based on the analysis of the captured information and contextualdata; and displaying on a display screen of a mobile computing devicefor performing associated mobile tasks a selectable visualrepresentation corresponding to the mobile task performed on the mobiledevice of the user for use in initiating execution of the mobile taskwhen the determined relevance of the performance of the mobile task tothe user meets a prescribed threshold, wherein displaying a selectablevisual representation corresponding to mobile task when the determinedrelevance of the performance of the mobile task to the user meets aprescribed threshold includes: displaying on a display screen of themobile device the selectable visual representation corresponding to themobile task which when selected causes performance of the mobile task;and dynamically updating the displaying of the selectable visualrepresentation corresponding to the mobile task when the determinedrelevance of the performed mobile task changes by repositioning thedisplay of the selectable visual representation.
 2. The method of claim1, further comprising receiving an indication of a selection of theselectable visual representation corresponding to the mobile taskperformed on the mobile device of the user.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising causing the performance of the mobile taskcorresponding to the received indication of the selection of theselectable visual representation.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereindetermining a relevance of the performance of the mobile task based onthe analysis of the captured information and contextual data includesdetermining the relevance of the performance of the mobile task based onan analysis of usage patterns of the performance of the mobile task onthe mobile device.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining therelevance of the performance of the mobile task based on usage patternsof the performance of the mobile task on the mobile device includescomparing informational data about the performance of the mobile taskwith informational data about previous performances of the mobile taskto determine whether the relevance of the performance of the mobile taskmeets the prescribed threshold for displaying the selectable visualrepresentation corresponding to the performance of the mobile task. 6.The method of claim 5, further comprising using the contextual dataassociated with the performance of the mobile task to determine whetherthe relevance of the performance of the mobile task meets the prescribedthreshold for displaying the selectable visual representationcorresponding to the performance of the mobile task.
 7. The method ofclaim 4, wherein determining the relevance of the performance of themobile task to the user based on the analysis of usage patterns of theperformance of the mobile task on the mobile device includes determiningwhether the usage patterns of the performed mobile task meet thresholdusage patterns indicating subsequent performance of the mobile task bythe user that warrants display of a selectable visual representationcorresponding to the mobile task which when selected causes performanceof the mobile task.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying aselectable visual representation corresponding to mobile task performedon the mobile device of the user includes displaying a selectable visualrepresentation corresponding to mobile task based on the analysis of thecaptured information and contextual data.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein dynamically updating the displaying of the selectable visualrepresentation corresponding to the mobile task when the determinedrelevance of the performed mobile task changes by repositioning thedisplay of the selectable visual representation comprises displaying theselectable visual representation in a prominent location on the displayscreen of the mobile device when the relevance of the performed mobiletask increases.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically updatingthe displaying of the selectable visual representation corresponding tothe mobile task when the determined relevance of the performed mobiletask changes by repositioning the display of the selectable visualrepresentation comprises displaying the selectable visual representationcorresponding in a less prominent location on the display screen of themobile device when the relevance of the performed mobile task decreases.11. A mobile device comprising a system for providing a personalizedcloud of mobile tasks, comprising: a memory for storing executableprogram code; and a processor, functionally coupled to the memory, theprocessor being responsive to computer-executable instructions containedin the program code and operative: to receive an indication of aperformance of a mobile task; to capture information about theperformance of the mobile task and contextual data associated with theperformance of the mobile task; to store the captured information andcontextual data; to analyze the captured information and contextualdata; to determine a relevance of the performance of the mobile task toa user based on the analysis of the captured information and contextualdata; to display on a display screen of the mobile device a selectablevisual representation corresponding to the mobile task performed for usein initiating execution of the mobile task when the determined relevanceof the performance of the mobile task to the user meets a prescribedthreshold; to receive an indication of a selection of the selectablevisual representation corresponding to the mobile task; to cause theperformance of the mobile task corresponding to the selection of theselectable visual representation; and to dynamically update theselectable visual representation when the determined relevance of theperformance of the mobile task changes, wherein dynamically updating theselectable visual representation comprises repositioning the display ofthe selectable visual representation.
 12. The system of claim 11,wherein the processor is further operative to determine the relevance ofthe performance of the mobile task based on an analysis of usagepatterns of the performance of the mobile task.
 13. The system of claim12, wherein the processor is further operative to use the contextualdata associated with the performance of the mobile task to determinewhether the relevance of the performance of the mobile task meets theprescribed threshold for displaying the selectable visual representationcorresponding to the mobile task.
 14. The system of claim 11, whereinthe processor, in repositioning the display of the selectable visualrepresentation is operative to display the selectable visualrepresentation in a prominent location on the display screen of themobile device when the relevance of the performed mobile task increases.15. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor, in repositioning thedisplay of the selectable visual representation is operative to displaythe selectable visual representation in a less prominent location on thedisplay screen of the mobile device when the relevance of the performedmobile task decreases.
 16. The system of claim 11, wherein theselectable visual representation comprises an icon.
 17. Acomputer-readable storage device storing computer executableinstructions which, when executed by a computer, perform a method fordisplaying selectable visual representations of performable mobile taskson a display screen of a mobile computing device, the method comprising:receiving an indication of a performance of a mobile task on a mobiledevice of a user; capturing information about the performance of themobile task on the mobile device of the user and contextual dataassociated with the performance of the mobile task on the mobile deviceof the user; analyzing the captured information and contextual data;determining a relevance of the performance of the mobile task to theuser based on usage patterns of the performance of the mobile task onthe mobile device derived from the analysis of the captured informationand contextual data; displaying on a display screen of a mobilecomputing device for performing associated mobile tasks a selectableicon corresponding to the performance of the mobile task on the mobiledevice of the user for use in initiating execution of the mobile taskwhen the determined relevance of the performance of the mobile task tothe user meets a prescribed threshold; receiving an indication of aselection of the selectable icon; causing the performance of the mobiletask corresponding to the indication of the selection of the selectableicon; and dynamically updating the selectable icon when the determinedrelevance of the performance of the mobile task changes by repositioningthe display of the selectable icon.
 18. The computer-readable storagedevice of claim 17, wherein determining the relevance of the performanceof the mobile task based on the analysis of the usage patterns of theperformance of the mobile task on the mobile device includes comparingthe informational data about the performance of the mobile task withinformational data about previous performances of the mobile task todetermine whether the relevance of the performance of the mobile taskmeets the prescribed threshold for displaying the selectable icon. 19.The computer-readable storage device of claim 17, wherein dynamicallyupdating the selectable icon when the determined relevance of theperformance of the mobile task changes by repositioning the display ofthe selectable icon comprises displaying the selectable icon in aprominent location on the display screen of the mobile device when therelevance of the performed mobile task increases.
 20. Thecomputer-readable storage device of claim 17, wherein dynamicallyupdating the selectable icon when the determined relevance of theperformance of the mobile task changes by repositioning the display ofthe selectable icon comprises displaying the selectable icon in a lessprominent location on the display screen of the mobile device when therelevance of the performed mobile task decreases.